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Police confiscated her computer, electronic storage devices and cell phone before she left the country for a two-week holiday in London. “According to the investigating officers, she is a witness in the case.”

A source close to the investigation said police had “cracked” Susan’s cellphone and downloaded information including WhatsApp messages.

“It’s all really tragic, says one of Susan’s friends. “I saw her a few days before she died and she was looking so thin. She really looked stressed. I don’t think it was a happy situation. Neighbours heard fighting all the time”.

The last time they were seen together was at Sotheby’s annual conference held at Spier – where they were reportedly overheard having a blazing argument about an affair that Jason had allegedly been having with an attractive estate agent, Jolene Alterskye.

Jason Rohde had two scratch marks on his back days after Susan’s death. This information is contained in a medical report which forms part of the charge sheet.

According to the medical report, he was taken by detectives from the Stellenbosch Serious Crimes Unit to Victoria Hospital in Wynberg four days after his wife's death, where he was examined by Dr Marianne Tiemensma of the clinical forensic unit.

[Yet another excellent witness from the van Breda trial. Her name doesn’t appear in the short witness list of 17 names posted earlier but perhaps is included in the complete list of 79.]

Tiemensma had noticed two superficial scratch marks or linear scratches on Rohde’s back. The top one was about 20mm long and 1mm wide. The one just below it was about 30mm long and about 1mm wide. There was no indication that the scratches had started healing yet.

She also noted that he had a “fresh” cut to the middle finger of his left hand. According to the medical report, Rohde said he’d cut himself with a glass vase.

According to Tiemensma’s the medical report, he appeared concerned and anxious but he co-operated.

In a sworn statement submitted to the Stellenbosch Magistrate’s Court a month after his wife’s death, he doesn’t mention the scratch marks at all. However he does refer to the small cut on his finger and says he sustained it on July 26, 2016 in the presence of his children.

It appears Susan put up a big fight for her life where she sustained horrible injuries before she was strangled. This seems a cut and dry case but lets see how this defence handles the damning forensic evidence in comparison to Botha's pathetic and roundabout tactics.
It's worrying that the autopsy reports show different causes of death, how can this happen?